For two days, the team had gone dark. No contact with the outside world. No signals, no trails, nothing that Volkov could use to track them. The world beyond their safe house felt distant, but the danger was closer than ever.
Dominic barely slept. He spent hours combing through every scrap of intelligence they had on Volkov, searching for anything any weakness, any overlooked detail that could give them an edge.
Alyssa was always there, beside him. She worked tirelessly, her eyes scanning through files and maps, never once complaining, never once stepping away from the fight. If she was exhausted, she didn't show it.
But Dominic saw it.
Late one night, as the others rested or worked in separate corners of the safe house, Dominic leaned back in his chair and exhaled heavily. Alyssa, seated next to him at the table, glanced up.
"You're running on fumes," she said, her voice softer than usual.
He gave a humorless smirk. "You're one to talk."
She tilted her head, studying him. "You always do this carry everything alone. But we're in this together, Dominic."
His gaze flickered to her, something unspoken passing between them. "I know," he admitted. "But if something happens to you".
Alyssa reached across the table and took his hand. The warmth of her touch cut through the cold knot of tension in his chest. "Then something happens to both of us. I'm not leaving you in this, and you damn well better not try to leave me behind."
Dominic turned his hand, lacing their fingers together. It was a small moment just them, in the quiet but it anchored him in a way nothing else could.
"I don't want to lose you," he murmured, his voice raw.
"You won't." Her eyes held his, steady and unyielding. "Not now. Not ever."
For the first time in days, Dominic allowed himself to believe that maybe just maybe there was a future beyond this fight.
Three days later, dressed in sleek formalwear, Dominic and Alyssa moved through the grand ballroom of Vladimir Orlov's estate in St. Petersburg. The event was an elite gathering of power brokers, politicians, and corporate titans the kind of crowd where Volkov could blend in without a trace.
The chandeliers cast golden light across the room, and the air was thick with the scent of expensive cologne, aged whiskey, and carefully concealed ambition.
"See anything?" Alyssa murmured, her lips barely moving as she scanned the crowd.
"Not yet," Dominic replied, adjusting the cuff of his tailored suit. But his pulse quickened when Marcus' voice crackled through his earpiece.
"I've got eyes on Orlov. He's in a private conversation on the back balcony. Can't see who he's talking to, but I've got a bad feeling about this."
Dominic's gaze met Alyssa's. They didn't need words. This was it.
Moving through the crowd, they made their way toward the balcony. As Dominic neared, his stomach twisted. Standing beside Orlov, dressed in a crisp black suit and exuding quiet menace, was Volkov.
Alyssa inhaled sharply. "We've got him."
The confrontation came fast.
Volkov's lips curled into a smirk as Dominic and Alyssa stepped into his path. "Ah, Dominic. I wondered when you'd come."
Dominic's jaw clenched. "It's over, Volkov. We have enough to take you down."
Volkov chuckled, his dark eyes gleaming. "Do you really believe that? Even if you stop me tonight, the world is already shifting. You can't stop what's coming."
Alyssa's voice was ice. "We'll see about that."
Then the gunfire started.
Screams echoed through the ballroom as Volkov's men opened fire, turning the elegant event into chaos.
"Go!" Dominic grabbed Alyssa's hand and pulled her behind a marble column as bullets shattered glass and sent guests scrambling.
"Marcus, Laura, we've got gunfire!" Dominic shouted into his earpiece.
"We're moving in!" Marcus responded.
Volkov used the distraction to run, Orlov following close behind.
Alyssa squeezed Dominic's hand. "We have to stop them!"
Together, they tore through the panicked crowd, weaving through overturned tables and broken glass. Volkov sprinted down a hallway toward the exit, his guards covering his retreat.
Alyssa fired first, taking down one of Volkov's men. Dominic followed, dropping another.
Volkov turned at the door, raising his gun aimed directly at Alyssa.
Dominic didn't think. He just reacted.
He lunged, knocking Alyssa aside just as the gun went off. Pain seared through his arm as the bullet grazed him, but he didn't stop. He aimed and fired.
Volkov staggered back, gripping his shoulder. But before Dominic could get another shot off, Orlov pulled him through the door, disappearing into the night.
The gunfire ceased. The ballroom was in ruins.
Dominic barely noticed the chaos around him he turned, eyes immediately searching for Alyssa.
She was already reaching for him. "You're hit."
"It's nothing," he said, but his voice was tight with pain.
Alyssa wasn't having it. She pulled him into a quiet alcove, her hands pressing against his bleeding arm.
"You idiot," she muttered, her voice shaking. "You could've"...
He cupped her face with his free hand. "I had to make sure you were safe."
Her eyes burned. "You think I'd survive losing you?"
Dominic exhaled sharply, his thumb brushing her cheek. "I can't lose you, Alyssa."
And then she kissed him.
It wasn't careful. It wasn't hesitant. It was fierce, desperate, a collision of everything unsaid.
For a moment, nothing else existed. Not the gunfire, not the mission, not the world outside this stolen second.
When they broke apart, Dominic rested his forehead against hers.
"We're not done yet," he whispered.
Alyssa nodded, breathless but steady. "Then let's finish this."
They still had a fight ahead of them. But together, they were unstoppable.